Tofacitinib Benefits Sustained for Two Years in Patients With RA

HealthDay News — The clinical benefits of tofacitinib in combination with methotrexate are sustained over 2 years among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a study published online January 22 in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Désirée van der Heijde, MD, PhD, from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a phase 3, 24-month, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of tofacitinib (including structural progression) and safety in 797 patients with active RA who had an inadequate methotrexate response (MTX-IR). Participants were randomly assigned to tofacitinib (5 or 10mg twice daily [BID]) or placebo advancing to tofacitinib (5 or 10mg) at month 3 for nonresponders or month 6 for the remaining patients.

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Among the 539 patients who completed 24 months of treatment, the researchers found that improvements were maintained in American College of Rheumatology 20/50/70 responses, proportions of patients achieving Disease Activity Score in 28 joints-defined remission or low disease activity, the Clinical Disease Activity Index, Simplified Disease Activity Index and Boolean remission, and Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index through months 12 to 24. Improvements were similar between tofacitinib doses. For both tofacitinib doses, safety events were similar in type and frequency, and they were consistent with those previously reported.